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Paclitaxel (PTX) treatment efficacy varies in breast cancer, yet the underlying mechanism for variable response remains unclear. This study evaluates whether human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) expression level utilizing advanced molecular positron emission tomography (PET) imaging is correlated with PTX treatment efficacy in preclinical mouse models of HER2+ breast cancer. HER2 positive (BT474, MDA-MB-361), or HER2 negative (MDA-MB-231) breast cancer cells were subcutaneously injected into athymic nude mice and PTX (15 mg/kg) was administrated. In vivo HER2 expression was quantified through 89Zr-pertuzumab PET/CT imaging. PTX treatment response was quantified by 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (18F-FDG) PET/CT imaging. Spearman's correlation, Kendall's tau, Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, and ANOVA were used for statistical analysis. 89Zr-pertuzumab mean standard uptake values (SUVmean) of BT474 tumors were 4.9 ± 1.5, MDA-MB-361 tumors were 1.4 ± 0.2, and MDA-MB-231 (HER2-) tumors were 1.1 ± 0.4. 18F-FDG SUVmean changes were negatively correlated with 89Zr-pertuzumab SUVmean (r = -0.5887, p = 0.0030). The baseline 18F-FDG SUVmean was negatively correlated with initial 89Zr-pertuzumab SUVmean (r = -0.6852, p = 0.0002). This study shows PTX treatment efficacy is positively correlated with HER2 expression level in human breast cancer mouse models. Molecular imaging provides a non-invasive approach to quantify biological interactions, which will help in identifying chemotherapy responders and potentially enhance clinical decision-making.
Lü et al. (Fri,) studied this question.